Nov 21 Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs (The Gulf Crossing)

Nov 21


Woke up today all mentally ready to make the Gulf of Mexico crossing.  We had prepped the boat by moving and securing the kayaks to the sundeck to give us visibility from the lower helm station.    We planned to navigate from the lower helm (a first for us as we prefer the visibility from the flybridge) during dark hours as the center of gravity is lower resulting in less rolling motion and there really won’t be anything to see from up top.  It also would let the off-duty pilot take a nap within easy earshot of the on-duty pilot. Removed the windshield cover and secured all other loose items on deck and below.  A 175-mile, 22-hour non-stop overnight passage. We had been caught out in the dark a few times on the trip and in general it wasn’t fun.  Tonight will be dark for a long time.  Clear skies and no moon rise until 1:30AM and then it would only be a sliver.  

Yeah we're suckers - bought the T-shirt!!

Checked no less than 6 weather and wave websites and there’s still some conflicting data.  None of it looked terrible – just some projecting smoother conditions and some a bit lumpier.   Current data shows our Thurs–Thurs night–Friday as OK but also a Fri-Fri night-Sat looking good (in fact a bit better).  My concern was the Fri/Sat opening had just materialized and as quickly as it came up it could also disappear. So today will be the day!!  Found a group of 4 other loopers committed to going Thurs.  Two of the boaters were experienced with the crossing – one having done it several times and our leader on Best Mate having done it over a dozen times.   They also would be crossing at about our normal running speed of 7 knots.  Everyone felt the forecast for winds and wave conditions were more than acceptable.  The plan was set to group up behind Dog Island next to the inlet and head out at 3PM.  

Our group heads out from Dog Island

  Wind was variable but predominantly southeasterly on our bow quarter.  We anticipated a bumpy ride the first few hours with 2’ seas and 10 knot winds and then the winds would die down overnight with seas dropping to 1’-2’.   That plan held with waves and winds diminishing as darkness approached with an unbelievably colorful sunset.

Sunset and a few stars starting to come out

Sunset video - looking west out the helm door

Sunset video - looking south out the windshield

 We were congratulating ourselves on picking the right night with such a nice ride until around midnight when the winds unexpectedly started picking up again.   Waves built back up to their original 2 foot seas with a short 2-3 second period. Winds picked up with gusts reaching 20 knots at times making the biggest problem wind driven spray.   We would part an occasional bigger wave and while it wouldn’t break over the bow, the spray would get caught in the wind and cover the deck and windshield making the situation feel much worse than it actually was.   Martha and I continued taking 2-3 hour shifts navigating.  

Lower helm view looking out the windshield at night

Conditions couldn’t have been too terrible as we both were able to fall asleep during our off times.  We were the boat at the back of the line which we liked.   We could see the stern lights on the other boats providing comfort in knowing we were not alone and giving a good reference point for the horizon.   Between the autopilot keeping the boat heading on a fixed course and the radar showing blips from each boat we were doing fine and making a steady 7+ knots. Around 3AM we made a planned 20-degree course change more easterly which was a smoother heading.  Shortly after, the winds also died back down.

Sunrise through a  salt  water sprayed  windshield

By sunrise the wind and seas had settled making the final 6 hours very uneventful.  By 7AM we were back driving from the warm and sunny flybridge.   The waters around Tarpon Spring are notorious for being infested with crab pots and playing “dodge a pot marker” is common.   Our course kept us in deeper waters away from them until the last minute where we made a hard turn directly eastward to shore and the entrance channel.  Wrapping a crab trap line around the propeller shaft would be a bad way to finish up our trip and this route was clear of most floats.  We only passed a handful of floats which were easily visible and avoidable.  

Tarpon Springs harbor still very much a working waterfront 

We pulled into our slip at Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina at 12:30. Tired, but not exhausted.  With too much adrenaline still flowing we ate a quick lunch and got to work  cleaning all the crusty salt spray off the boat.    Then a quick walk around town, a flight of beers at a taproom and a Greek combination platter for dinner.  Finally exhausted we were sound asleep at 8:30.  

Sunset view from our slip in Tarpon Springs

We have reservations here for 2 weeks  giving us time to run home for Thanksgiving with family and then time to come back and enjoy  this unique Florida town for a few more days.  It’s home to the largest Greek community outside of Greece. They started coming  here in the early 1900’s when it was discovered  there  was a big natural sponge  area in the nearby waters.  An industry and community was born.